Bend Economic Development Advisory Board Weighs in on UGB Next Steps

The Bend Economic Development Advisory Board (BEDAB) is tasked with providing the Bend City Council with feedback on topics relevant to the business community and economic vitality within the City. For the past few weeks a key issue citywide has been how the implementation of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) will take place, which areas will be annexed first, and which measures will be used to aid in development or extension of city infrastructure.

Councilors and staff reviewed the areas highlighted in red on this map. The other expansion areas are handling their planning and annexation requirements independently as they're owned by a small number of large landholders, reducing complexity.

After Council held a four-hour work session on March 21st to review recommendations on moving forward, they requested community feedback in-person at their April 4th meeting and in writing ahead of their next discussion on the topic at their April 18th.

On Wednesday, April 4th the BEDAB submitted a letter detailing feedback that the group agreed to at their meeting on Monday, April 2nd. If you’d like to respond to the BEDAB’s points, you can message bendforbusiness@bendoregon.gov, all feedback will be shared with committee members ahead of their next meeting on Monday, May 7th.

Here are the four key recommendations the BEDAB shared:

The BEDAB supports the blended recommendation to move forward on area planning for The Elbow while creating a new urban renewal district within portions of The Core; notably the Bend Central District and KorePine sites but not the Central Westside.

While work is progressing on The Elbow, BEDAB is supportive of pursuing “soft-focus” efforts to identify and work on area-planning for the next expansion area. The Northeast Corner’s potential for new housing and ongoing sewer infrastructure development make it a likely candidate for the next area to review.

Council should commit to an implementation schedule for each of the expansion areas and share it publicly as a means of developing certainty for property owners and developers.

Annexation of each expansion area comes with an associated fee paid to the City’s General Fund. Council should allocate some portion of this fee toward the long range planning efforts necessary to ensure continued implementation of the UGB.

Council will take up the discussion again at their meeting on April 18th but you can still weigh in on the conversation, no matter where you stand on the topic, by emailing Councilors via Council@bendoregon.gov.